plenzmd1 Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 Not that many years ago there used to be Saturday games after Thanksgiving. College football is more or less over after Thanksgiving, so the pros could broadcast a couple games on Saturday without stepping on anybodies toes. I wonder why that stopped. Maybe because basketball has taken over on Saturdays? As you and over officious mentioned, Saturday afternoon games in the 80's and 90's were the norm. Nothing said Christmas like to shopping, stop in have a beer somewhere and catch part of game. I have no Idea why they stopped. It has to have something to do with Thursday night series I am guessing.
tito1 Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 I like it the way it is. Nfl Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday, it all works.
machine gun kelly Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 The Simple Answer is as stated that in large parts of the country like the south and midwest, college football is king. With the SEC Championships, and others the week after Thanksgiving, the networks won't take anything away from it. I agree possibly the second week in December through Christmas would be nice to have football, but you know the networks won't do what they did in the early 90's and have them in the day, which is what I liked. They'll do that 3:30 and 7:30 pm games. I prefer the 1 and 4 pm as you can make a whole day of it with friends.
BuffaloWings Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 Better question is...what happened to the old late-season Saturday afternoon games? Once the college season had wound down, they used to play two games on Saturday afternoon in weeks 15-16. Would have been nice for me yesterday, as I was home all day.
BisonMan Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 The Super Bowl on a Sunday benefits the league and the host city the most. TV viewership on Sundays is much higher than Saturdays (where TV shows go to die) because people have other things to do on Saturday nights, particularly among the most coveted demographic (males 18-35). The NFL doesn't want them choosing between chasing tail and watching football. The host cities love the Sunday game because it increases tourism dollars. People traveling for SBs tend to arrive in the host city on Thursday or Friday and stay until Monday morning. If the game were Saturday, they'd leave on Sunday but still wouldn't arrive any earlier than Thursday. Finally, I'm guessing beer (and any other advertisers) have traditionally preferred Sunday because early in the week is when a lot of folks buy groceries and the fresher the ad in their minds, the more likely they buy products. So, Bud commercial on Sunday leads to Bud purchase on Monday. My 2 cents.
Orton's Arm Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 I'm sure this has been discussed before but watching this game tonight (Lions/Falcons) makes me wonder why the NFL plays on Sundays. My job doesn't allow for me to come in not 100%, nor do I want to feel a little under the weather on any day, especially Monday. Therefore I don't drink on Bills days. Do I need to drink to have fun? Depends. On Bills days, yeah. But besides all of that, it should be clear I've been drinking. NFL on Saturdays? Thoughts? If the NFL scheduled games on Saturday, the NCAA would probably retaliate by scheduling games on Sunday.
BrooklynBills Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 A lot of the NFL's popularity is due to the mystique and lore about the game and its history. You can change the way the game is played over time but keep the traditional structure in place and not lose that history. Jim Brown played on Sunday, the Steelers played on Sunday, Joe Montana, etc. The connection with the game's past is more prevalent with this commonality that all the players share. That and the NFL practically owns TV on Sunday and you would not be able to replicate that on another day. Just as many people associate football with Sunday as they do with going to church, if not more. Yes, they kind of fell into that but they'd be stupid to throw that away.
marauderswr80 Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 NFL on Sundays is American! Thats why!!
KRT88 Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 The NFL is all about money, so I'm surprised they have violated that ideal yet. Why not Thursday, Friday and Saturday night nationally televised games? Personally, I'd drop the Thursday night game and add in Friday and Saturday night games but I'm evil.
BrooklynBills Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 The NFL is all about money, so I'm surprised they have violated that ideal yet. Why not Thursday, Friday and Saturday night nationally televised games? Personally, I'd drop the Thursday night game and add in Friday and Saturday night games but I'm evil. I honestly think Friday night high school football and Saturday night college football would pull significantly from their ratings in many parts of the country. What they have now is a perfect setup.
KD in CA Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 I remember growing up (~early 90s), there were a LOT more Saturday games, specifically after college FB ended. And, for that matter, I think they were afternoon games at that (NFL network had some Saturday night games in the last few years; the Patriots-Giants 2007 pre-Super Bowl matchup, for one). Anyone else remember that? An explanation would be the proliferation of mid-December bowl games (there were two each of the last two Saturdays). But rag on the Gildan New Mexico Bowl or the R&L New Orleans Bowl at your own risk; they were actually good games Yup, I remember watching that game at a Christmas party and thinking 'damn, the Giants can hang with them". There used to be Saturday games throughout December, after the college season ended. I think you are right that between the expansion of the bowl season and a number of later regular season games, there is no longer a period in December w/o college football.
DrDawkinstein Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 If they played on Saturdays all fall, I'd stop watching the nfl and just stick to college if I had to choose. I'm sure many others would too. It's bad business to try to compete with the 30 college games every week. But I do miss the Saturday games they used to play once college ball ended.
xsoldier54 Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 As you and over officious mentioned, Saturday afternoon games in the 80's and 90's were the norm. Nothing said Christmas like to shopping, stop in have a beer somewhere and catch part of game. I have no Idea why they stopped. It has to have something to do with Thursday night series I am guessing. I used to love those Saturday games in December as well. They stopped when the Thursday night games began.
djp14150 Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 A better question is why the Super Bowl is not held on a Saturday night. There is no conflict with college football at that time of the season, most people are off the next day etc etc. A Saturday Super Bowl has multiple advantages. The reason it's held on Sunday is because its always been that way. The status quo is a difficult thing to overcome. Because viewership will drop. Saturday is a day people can go out. Sunday and Monday nights you have more viewers at home..with Sunday being the mosts eyes watching of any night in the week.
BuffaloWings Posted December 23, 2012 Posted December 23, 2012 I used to love those Saturday games in December as well. They stopped when the Thursday night games began. And when the NFL Network showed up.
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